A complete guide to metal detecting for beginners

Every day people are running, walking, and enjoying being outdoors. Unfortunately, while enjoying outdoors, a lot of people tend to lose jewelry, keys, coins, and other precious objects. The truth is that there is a broad range of items which are lying outdoors just waiting to be discovered. The best way to find them is to use a metal detector.

For some travelers and outdoor enthusiasts, metal detecting is a hobby. The first metal detector was made in the 19th century. It used concepts of magnetism and electricity; the metal detector helps find where the metal objects may reside.

Metal detecting is quite fun and a lucrative hobby that can be enjoyed by people of any age. This post helps you learn about metal detecting and metal detectors:

History of metal detectors

Alexander Graham Bell made the first metal detector. Over the years, metal detectors have evolved over the years. This is greatly attributed to electricity. Graham was motivated to find a bullet which killed President Garfield. Although it never found the bullet that killed. Nevertheless, he is credited with inventing the first metal detector.

The early metal detector could only detect metals that were just one or two inches. However, this has greatly changed, and the modern metal detectors can even detect small coins and precious items that are buried deep.

Buying the right metal detector

The modern metal detectors cost between $300 to over $1000. You should note that their quality varies greatly. For instance, some are designed to be hot in silver and gold while others are good at detecting coins as their primary target. Some exhibit excellent water resistance properties and others are suitable for freshwater and others salt.

If you figure it out, you get what you pay for. For instance, if you have an inexpensive metal detector, you are likely to dig but recover trash. On the other hand, if you have a top range detector, you are likely to be productive even on your first trip. In fact, a poor quality detector is not going to penetrate deep, and you are likely to find shallow trash.

Types of metal detectors

There are three major kinds of metal detectors on the market. Moreover, there are several manufacturers across the world. Pulse induction detectors, Multi-Frequency detectors, and VLF detectors. You will find certain models which are adaptable for land water, hunting, and beach. Let us have a quick glance at the different types of metal detectors:

VLF detectors

They are known as Very Low-Frequency detectors or motion detectors. You can use them both in salt water and fresh water and even on a dry beach. They are quite erratic when they touch salt waters. For them to locate a target, the coil must be in motion.

Pulse Induction detectors

These are best in salt water. In fact, they can even pick up deepest targets. The good thing about them is that they can ignore salt which is quite cumbersome for metal detecting on the ocean. However, they do not discriminate junk and iron without losing quality signals.

Multi-Frequency detectors

These are a bit expensive, but they offer the best metal detecting capability. In fact, they can scan a wide range of frequencies. This makes it adjust them to any soil composition. This means that they can find more targets as compared to motion or pulse detectors.

Metal detecting tips and techniques

Using a metal detector to achieve top performance increases the likelihood of locating targets requires the user to have certain basic skills. The following are some of the skills that can be useful for metal detecting:

Sweeping

This is a basic metal detecting technique. In fact, it is the first skill an operator should master. Usually, it involves moving of search coil from one side to another across the ground. It is helpful in finding buried objects.

Digging the object

After pinpointing the target, you should clear surface material and check again for the signal. If the signal disappears then, the metal is amongst the surface material. Keep on searching until you find the target. When the target is near, the signal is louder.

Treasure hunting tips using a metal detector

Relic, coin, and treasure hunting in the park, at the beach, or around your homestead are some of the most rewarding hobbies. Across the world, several objects are buried for centuries. Treasure hunters can unearth relics from past centuries such as badges, buttons, war memorabilia, and artifacts. These things can be valuable items and can be worth thousands of dollars.

Where to hunt

It is advisable to hunt in patronized areas like parks, beaches, picnic areas, and showground. In fact, even your backyard can give you valuable treasure. You should take into account the age of your homestead and people who have lived there before you.

Your backyard

It the past, it was common to bury valuables and large amounts of money in the backyard. This was considered to be safekeeping mission. Rings, necklaces, and other pieces of jewelry got lost due to gardening. Thus, you can find even gold necklaces and diamond wedding rings. In fact, most of them got lost before the invention of modern metal detectors. They are just lying in your garden awaiting discovery by you.

The beach

The beach is a nice place to hunt treasure and coins. This is because a lot of people go to the beach. Since sand is the only soil at the beach, small objects get lost easily. Fingers shrink when placed in cold water and ring just slip off. The same thing happens to watches and other pieces of jewelry. A metal detector makes it very easy to retrieve these objects from the sand.

Join a club

Nowadays, there are metal detecting clubs and groups that organize routine treasure-hunting trips. These clubs look for designated areas that are known to have buried valuables. Contestants are offered a time limit to recover valuables. The good thing about metal detecting clubs is that they help one improve his or her skills.

Best Metal Detector for Gold 2020

Minelab SDC 2300

Minelab SDC 2300 is designed for advanced hobbyists. It comes with free carry bag, headphones, smart charger, and gloves. This is a great machine that is built to withstand whatever it is thrown to it. Moreover, it is waterproof and compact. When using this gold detector, you are sure to find all undiscovered gold patches whether they are underwater or on land.

In fact, it is a top-range gold detector that is ideal for finding elusive sub-gram nuggets. The good thing about this gold detector is that it is easy to assemble and has easy-to-use controls. It is time you allow the versatility of Minelab SDC 2300 to help you find lots gold nuggets.

Noise-canceling – This is achieved with the technological improvements in general circuitry. In fact, it does not get affected by electromagnetic interference sources.

Sensitivity – You should note that sensitivity is quite important in helping you built great performance of any given unit under particular conditions. In this machine, the sensitivity is determined by electromagnetic interference level.

Quality headphones – As you know, if you cannot hear the target signal, then there is no need of digging up such a nugget. It comes with headphones that are equipped with 150 Ohm drivers.

Minelab GPX 4500

This is a metal detector meant to help you find gold and relic. It has two search coils: 11-inch Monoloop for extensive detecting and 11-inch Double D for general metal detection. It has DVT, SETA, and MPS technologies that deliver superior gold detection. The following are some top features of Minelab GPX 4500 metal detector:

Versatile timing settings – This makes it ideal for gold detection on any ground conditions. In fact, Enhance timing is a great feature that delivers a similar performance like Sensitive Smooth timing. However, it also offers an improvement in depth and great signal response.

Stabilizer control – This is suitable for those who want the smoothest threshold. When you are prospecting in noisy areas, it will deliver a smoother threshold. When prospecting on neutral soils, put OFF

Ground Balance – This will also be helpful when detecting relic.

Battery life – It has adjustable time-out feature for the backlight to preserve battery life.

Target Volume – This feature allows the user to increase the strength of soft target signals. This is quite important when prospecting in windy conditions and for users with hearing loss problems.

Iron Reject function – If you are prospecting in areas that have a lot of ferrous junk, this feature will be helpful.

Fisher Gold Bug Pro

This metal detector for gold is designed to help find smallest gold nuggets in mineralized soils. In fact, it is meant for people who are new to this hoppy. You get incredible depth at a good value. Its biaxial Searchcoils and fast retune speed create a superb target separation. You can easily distinguish iron targets. It is easy to differentiate between smaller iron objects such as nails and larger ones thanks to 40-Point Iron ID target. Some of the Fisher Gold Bug

Pro features are:

Ground phase value – This indicates the type of mineralization.
19 kHz operating frequency to smoke out the gold nuggets

Easy to use – Thanks to Ultra Simple User Interface and its portability.

Garrett 1140680 AT Gold Metal Detector

This gold metal detector is designed to offer you extreme performance and depth across all terrains. The exceptional metal detector can easily exceed your gold detection and prospecting requirements. With 18 kHz, you can easily detect small gold nuggets, relics, coins, and jewelry. The following are some useful features of Garrett 1140680 AT Gold Metal Detector:

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